Do We Know How to Talk to Each Other Anymore?

Yesterday felt like everyone was yelling at each other, and no one was listening to the other person.

Perhaps that’s a perpetual statement at this point. I mean, the Democrats and the Republicans have pretty big disagreements with each other. And while I am clearly a Democrat, that doesn’t mean I like the endless, and extremely pointless, hand-to-hand verbal combat that we are subjected to in the media day after day.

I felt weary, and I found myself wanting to hear this old TED Talk to remind myself that communication is possible. We just need a few keys.

Before I sign off, I do want to point out that while the speaker aimed his talk at how liberals and conservatives can learn to talk to each other, I think it would do us a lot of good to think about how we talk to people on our own side. The Democratic primary could be awesome–a time to have meaningful debates about the exact direction of the country and produce the strongest candidate to win us back the White House–but it could also be brutal and leave us weakened before Election Night 2020.

I’d really, really, really prefer the former. If we use empathy and respect, we will get there. Thanks for listening.

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Take Charge of your Activism

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2 replies

Incredibly timely, as my new boyfriend is a moderate Republican. We’ve had trouble talking about issues. This will help me A LOT! (I probably won’t share it with him to keep my influencing advantage… lol!)